Having played the New York area in December, the Stones announced today that they will kick off their “50 AND COUNTING” tour this spring in Los Angeles at the STAPLES Center (the date has yet to be announced, pending the NBA and NHL playoff schedules). The tour will also hit Oakland, San Jose, Las Vegas, Anaheim, Toronto, Boston and Philadelphia. Mick Taylor, the band’s guitarist from 1969-1974 (playing on classic albums including Sticky Fingers and Exile On Main Street), and who appeared with the band on their 2012 dates, will be a guest throughout the tour.

Mick Jagger said in the press statement announcing the tour that, “’50 AND COUNTING’ has been pretty amazing so far. We did a few shows in London and New York last year… and had such a good time that we thought… let’s do some more. It’s a good show. Lots of the classic stuff everyone wants to hear… with a few little gems tucked in here and there. The stage is shaped like lips and goes off into the venue so I get to run around in the crowd. It’s great fun to be able to get that close to the audience.”

Keith Richards added: “From day one at rehearsals it sounded so fresh. You could tell that everybody was dying to get their teeth into it. It was like… open the gates… let us out! ‘Cause man, it is the life and blood of us to play in front of people.”